Great Northern War 4.04 Update + Expansion Package

Today we take you back to the late 17th century and beginning of the 18th Century when Swedish armies roamed Northern Europe clashing with their neighbors in epic battles that tried the endurance of nations, for decades. Musket & Pike: Great Northern War was released almost a year ago, and now we are bringing you new content for it. First off, the underlying game engine is moving to the next version, up to 4.04. The Demo for the series, Vienna 1683 is also being updated. So, part of our blog post today will cover what's new with the 4.04 release.

Additionally, Great Northern War is receiving its first, free, expansion package. Yes, you read that right... for existing owners this add-on is completely free and of course will be bundled with all new purchases from today forward. This will also be covered in more detail as we go through todays post.

Note: Both of these updates require new full installs, which can be accessed from your Store Account at any time. 

(All images can be clicked for full size viewing.)

Ok, let's look at some of the enhancements this round of updates is bringing. 

First off is Leader Casualties. We have three changes related to this topic. 

• Reduced the points assigned when using the optional rule Victory Points for Leader Casualties. See the Victory Dialog entry (section 9.14) of the User Manual for details.
• Adjusted the Find Leader or Unit function to no longer be case sensitive. Default button is now Search instead of OK.
• Added new Leader Casualty function. When selecting an entry in the Leader Casualty dialog the location it took place is highlighted on the map as well as the result (W/C/K).

Next we now have the ability to resize most of the dialog boxes in the game. In the image below I've placed a Red Arrow pointing to the indicator which will tell you if a dialog box is resizable or not.  

Additionally, the Parameter Data Dialog can not only be re-sized, but it can remain open while you continue game play. If you happen to run a dual-monitor setup you can open it and move it off to the side so as to not obscure any of the game play area. This will also refresh if you move on to a new scenario.

Several changes were made to further improve the way the game operates, and to make preparation for new features. We also found a conflict with newer Windows 11 systems which required a change in the underlying media routines:

• Background Sound and Music can now play simultaneously.
• Added infrastructure for future AI enhancements.
• Added ability to re-set all game settings to original defaults through the Settings --> Clear Settings menu option.
• Changes to support Windows 11 compatibility.

And last, but not least is:

• Further refinements to AI routines.

As with our other posts, we don't really like to "hype" things... we feel it's better to understate and you be pleasantly surprised - rather than shout it from the roof tops and you be underwhelmed! But, we think you will find the AI much improved with this new update. It puts up a stout defense, is able to launch counter-attacks and conduct offensive operations. For someone who plays against the AI only we believe you will be happy with what you see. However, if you are a veteran PBEM player you will likely still be underwhelmed. Just being realistic...

All of these changes are applied to the Vienna 1683 Demo as well. Additionally, all of the scenarios in the Demo have had their scripting completely re-worked and enhanced to take advantage of the latest changes as well.

** Remember, the Demo is like all the other games - you can grab the new installer from your Store Account page. You do not need to order a new copy from the Store.

Ok, now on to the free Expansion Package that has been incorporated today. This package includes 20 new scenarios for the game, which are inserted at the end of the listing beginning with scenario 069. The new scenarios come from different "angles". 

• The first one is a variant of the Humlebæk battle included with the original game. The next three are also Battalion Scale actions of a new battle not previously included with GNW.
• The next four scenarios are Company Level actions of two different battles.
• And the final twelve cover four different battles from the Scanian War. 

The Scanian War 

The Scanian War involved the union of Denmark, Norway, Brandenburg, and Sweden. It was fought between 1675 and 1679, mainly in southern Sweden.

In the 1660s and early 1670s, the Swedish Empire experienced something of a financial crisis. So, Sweden and France entered into an alliance, with France providing substantial sums of money to fund the Swedish maintenance of armies in Northern Europe.

In 1672, Denmark-Norway, Emperor Leopold I, the Electorate of Brandenburg, the Duchy of Braunschweig-Celle, the Duchy of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, and the Duchy of Hesse-Kassel formed an anti-French/Swedish and pro-Dutch alliance.

The French were engaged in a war with the Dutch. In 1674, King Louis XIV of France called on Sweden to invade Brandenburg to tie up their army. The Swedes, somewhat unenthusiastically, complied and marched into Brandenburg to suffer defeat at Fehrbellin.

As a result of this defeat, Sweden appeared vulnerable which encouraged their enemies. The Danes and Norwegians planned to recover territory from Sweden that had historically belonged to them. The Danish-Norwegian retake of Scania (taken by Sweden in 1658) began with the Danish capture of Helsingborg on June 29, 1676. King Christian V of Denmark led an army of 15,000 men against 5,000 Swedish defenders spread across the province. Initially, the Danish invasion was a great success. A lot of the locals were pro-Danish and fought a vicious guerilla war against the Swedes. Town after town fell into Danish hands.

In coordination with the Danes, the Norwegians invaded under Governor General Gyldenløve. The Norwegians enjoyed success routing the Swedish forces with ease - and the co-operation of the pro-Norwegian population of Jämtland.

The Norwegians unsuccessfully attempted to meet up with the Danes at Halmstad. This led to the battle of Fyllebro (Halmstad) which saw the Danes defeated by the Swedes.

Danish fortunes continued to fall as they were defeated at the battle of Lund in 1676 and after a disastrous assault on Malmö, the Danes were defeated by the Swedes at Landskrona in 1677. Afterwards the Danes and Norwegians withdrew their armies from Sweden.

While victorious on land, the Swedish navy had been comprehensively defeated at sea by the Danish-Norwegian navies. This meant that although they had withdrawn their armies, the Danes and Norwegians remained a threat to Sweden.

The Treaty of Fontainebleau signed in August 1679, the treaty of Lund and the marriage of King Charles XI of Sweden to Princess Ulrike Eleonora of Denmark ended the war. The terms pretty much restored lands lost and won, returning the belligerents to the situation before the war started. Following the peace treaty, the pro-Danish guerrillas in Sweden and their sympathizers, were subjected to severe punishments/retribution by the Swedish authorities.

You can read the full notes file here.

Below we have a sampling of screen shots from the Expansion Package.

And this concludes our review of what's new today. Again, for existing owners of either of the two titles mentioned, go to your Store Account and download a fully-updated new installer for your games.

If you don't already own them you can grab a copy from the respective product pages:

Great Northern War

Vienna 1683

As of this writing we expect to release updates for the remainder of the Musket & Pike series to bring them to this level in roughly two weeks, if all goes well.

If you would like to talk to others about these updates, or the series as a whole you can visit the Musket & Pike specific section of our Official Forums.

Enjoy!